Sustainable watershed habitat management in Mexico's megalopolis

Sustainable watershed habitat management plays an increasingly critical role in terms of global water security. This project combines expertise in UK and Mexican universities/ NGOs with that of in-country stakeholders to determine how endemic grassland and forest can be sustainably managed for watershed provision in four major urban centres that form a megalopolis in Central Mexico, namely Mexico City, Puebla, Toluca and Cuernavaca. The key research objectives are: 1) Establish the status and trends of both the native grassland/ forest cover (1950´s to present) in terms of distribution and species composition in the 250,000 ha of volcanic montane watershed; 2) Analyse the relationship between changes in this watershed ecosystem and hydrological balance, in particular as related to aquifer recharge; 3) Analyse the different management policies and practices carried out by indigenous communities and municipalities, 4) Propose robust guidelines for sustainable long-term native grassland/forest watershed management to promote urban resilience.